The present invention relates generally to the field of radio systems and more particularly, to a modular platform supporting different radio channels.
Traditionally, multi channel radios for use in government or the military arena included a single box housing having a circuit single board or card with all of the components being hard wired. In order to repair, upgrade or add additional channels, the entire radio needs to be transported to a repair facility. Repairs in the field are difficult due to the hard wiring of all of the radio components. Even if only one channel of a multi-channel radio is not operating properly, the entire radio must be sent in for repair. As a result the entire radio is rendered inoperative until the system is repaired or upgraded.
Alternatively a multi channel radio may include a single card with multiple channels, or multiple cards with each card having at least one channel. If the operator knows which card to pull, it is possible, to pull the specific card required and send it in for repair or replacement. However, this approach still requires the housing to be disassembled and reassembled in the field. Additionally, multiple cards having multiple channels in a single housing makes the management of heat dissipation difficult.
Traditionally, the military has used federated radio systems that have a radio for each specific application such as VHF, UHF and HF. More recently the military has been pursuing a course of software defined radios that include hardware that can be reprogrammed with wave forms via a software upload. This permits update to the radio platforms without changing hardware every time a new function is added.
It would be desirable to provide a modular multiple channel radio that was easy to repair or upgrade that minimized the need for cooling. It would also be desirable to provide a modular multiple channel radio platform that was flexible and could support anywhere from a single channel to multiple interchangeable ten or more (i.e. not limited to ten) channels. Further it would be desirable to provide a modular radio platform, where the modules may be reconfigured and/or reprogrammed to support different radio channels.